JEFFERSON - For many Jefferson residents and officials, the American flag has become a symbolic reminder of Sept. 11, the thousands of lives that were lost and the sacrifice shown by the many public service workers who forged through the rubble of the fallen towers of the World Trade Center on that day.

Moments before the white truck Andrew Jason Grier was driving crossed the center line of Browns Bridge Road and caused a fatal, multiple-vehicle collision on the morning of Aug. 18, someone called his employer to report his reckless driving, according to recordings provided by Hall County.